The strangers came in the winter. The first wave arrived, frightened and confused. They did not loiter near the infernal portal that had coughed them out. No, they made haste to distance themselves from the site, venturing into the heart of the forest. The whole of them followed the lead of their chieftain. The tall, cloaked one, who seemed to concern himself only with their safety and seeking refuge from the cold. Why did they not take shelter from the storm in the village nearby, which was clearly within view? Perhaps they did not know we would welcome them as refugees.
I dispatched a scout to trail them, mostly to watch. To intervene should they be harassed by any of the creatures that resided within the wilderness they now traveled. I remained behind to watch something else. This mysterious doorway that glowed like blue fire. For two suns I watched it, and on the showing of the third I came to discover what they had been afraid of. Why they did not remain long in the door’s shadow. An army. The second wave burst through with a different vigor, which I recognized immediately. These thirsted for blood.
Their chieftain was different. Unlike the others, these were clothed in green and metal, in the fashion of the warring savages far to the south. He of the golden hair also dispatched scouts, trackers. They stormed the village. Though they killed no one, they were not kind. I could only stand by and bear witness, unable to intercede. For now.
The first wave, we now know they are the pursued. The hunted. The green ones have made them their prey. This is not our way. They hunt them for their gifts, and for their loyalty to their chieftain. But why? Is it because they themselves do not have the gift? It is strange to think that a people would hate such a thing. It is of the world, natural, within all of us here. These soldiers who lack this natural thing, a thing so abundant we do not even have a name for it other than life, they are not welcome.
They are intruders, and we must not allow them to sully our home with their hatred. I, Knuti of the Hinter clan, will not allow their aggression to stand. This is not the way of the wild, of the world. I will show them the way.
